Flint Chief Planner Megan Hunter (left) speaks with one of the facilitators during this week's master plan meeting

Steve Carmody/Michigan Radio

The city of Flint is drawing closer to having a new plan for its future.

For decades, Flint’s population has been shrinking. More than 50 percent of the homes in many Flint neighborhoods are vacant. That's led to crime and other problems.

This week, about 200 city residents and consultants pored over maps of the city. They were making recommendations for which parts of Flint should be turned into parks, business centers and residential neighborhoods.

Megan Hunter is Flint’s Chief Planning Officer. During the last 15 months, Hunter has been spearheading the effort to come up with Flint’s first master plan since 1960.

She says the city plans to have the outline for a new master plan by August.

“We’ve done a really thorough job of educating people about the situation that Flint has lost a sizable population, so we have to think about land use differently,” says Hunter.